Excellent, Lovely Looking, Vintage Set
This is a very nice looking set from the pirate series released in 1994, probably one of my favourite sets that I own. It looks spectacular, and is great to play with or use as a display piece
Box/Instructions
The box looks wonderful, as do most of the boxes from vintage Lego sets, the sunset background adds to how nice it looks. I feel that there is some kind of charm to the look of older, vintage sets and their boxes that you don't really get nowadays.
Parts
The set comes with some very good, and some unique parts. For example, the rock pieces with vine printing. However the pieces that probably stand out the most are the base plates. Both are green with printed sand and river patterns, and one is raised and one is flat. I may be wrong, but i do not think that these bases come in any other sets.
Minifigures
The Pirate minifigures have very nice printing, but aren't really unique, and you could get them in any of the vintage pirate sets. The Islanders look very nice, they come with printed shields and there are a variety, including men and women, different face paint, and different head wear. This set comes with 8 minifigures (including a monkey) which is a good amount.
The build
This set is very fun to build. There are a lot of pieces included, which means it won't just take 5 minutes to complete, so the experience will be better. The only complaint I would have is not specifically for this set, but for the instructions of older sets as a whole. These days instruction booklets will tell you which pieces you need for each page. However they do not in this set and you can easily miss something and have to work your way back through the booklet to find where the piece goes.
The completed model
The completed build looks amazing, it is very large, but that is definitely a good thing in this case. There are many options for positioning figures and a great display piece. I also found that this set looks very good when placed with other sets, especially others sets from the old pirate series and the adventurers series.
Overall opinion
Overall I feel that this is a great set. The figures are good, it's fun to build, comes with some great parts, and overall just looks amazing. Since it is discontinued, it could cost quite a bit to buy, especially if you want it in the box with the instructions, but if you like the look of it, you should definitely try and look out for a good deal.
8 out of 8 people thought this review was helpful.
Paradise, classic-style
I'm writing this review from a certain (not to say biased) point of view. This set comes from the period when I was involved in Lego the most, as a child. In 1994 it was simply unimaginable for me to afford it, all I could get was 6236: King Kahuka when it comes to Islanders. Many of you probably can imagine what it felt like, when after 21 years, as an adult fan, I managed to buy sealed set! At 150 EUR it wasn't even that sick kind of price - when you think about classic Pirates. I shot dozens of pictures and I'd like to share some of them as well.
Box/Instructions
Typically for the mid-1990s, it's the kind of box with lid, under which some of the most interesting parts are displayed:
So, even unopened it reveals much of what's inside, especially considering that the back shows some inspiring alternate builds (again, typically for the period). After unboxing, the contents look as follows:
As you can see, apart from instructions there is also the 1994 catalogue, Lego Service book (which is some kind of offline, pre-Pick-a-Brick solution I wasn't aware of so far) and... yes, only four stickers for the canoe. They certainly lost some of their stickiness but were still usable after 20 years!
Parts
This is mostly what I bought it for. You get two printed, colourful baseplates (one flat, one raised), two boats, the whole jungle of leaves and trees, rope bridge, flags, monkey, parrot, crocodile and a lot more. You can't really use price per piece ratio when you look at this:
Minifigures
There is a complete Islanders line-up with their King, his bow-armed spouse and three natives. There are also two pirates with weapons. Which honestly leaves little to be desired. The only drawback for me is Captain Red Beard who is less interesting than his 1989 counterpart.
The build
No surprises here. No advanced techniques. Parts are quite large, so the main building rises up quickly. You have to try hard not to haste too much! However, remember that the instructions doesn't use so many steps as modern ones do. Plus there is no selection of parts in the corner, so you have be careful.
The completed model
Fabulous. Simply wonderful.
The most interesting structures are the main one, raised on 3D baseplate and Kahuka-like one on the right, which also serves as a prison:
There is just enough space for each boat, animal and minifigure. The level of detail may not be astonishing for a spoiled a.d. 2015 AFOL, but... it's not 1000-piece set after all. The model's size and playability are more than satisfying though.
Overall opinion
A highly recommended set, not only for classic Pirates afficionados. Many of included here parts are either rare or discontinued long ago. Apart from printed tiles and panels, animals, baseplates and minifigures, other hard to find pieces from this lot are for example:
- sail parts (4318, 4319)
- panels (4444)
- 10x5 palm leaf
- palm trunk
and many other, born-to-be-MOC parts. To conclude, I'm really happy to own it in mint condition (as opposed to my other childhood sets) and it's quite refreshing after buying only 2014/2015 sets for some time!PS ;)
27 out of 28 people thought this review was helpful.
A set that rivals the coolness of a castle set
Considering that there are plenty of other reviewers out there and most of the sets I have are 15+ years old, my reviews are going have a much different angle to them versus a build straight out of a sealed box from the store. Maybe this style may actually help someone in a similar situation, or just be an entertaining read about the durability and uniqueness of its parts. My criteria will be more based upon survivability of a set after being built, played with, disassembled, and its parts reused in multiple other configurations as many kids will do. Next will be my ability to find its parts that have been stored in a Rubbermaid tub for over a decade, and to see what wear and tear may have affected it. Keep in mind that I have over 50 sets stored in multiple containers where they have remained for 10-15 years. I have also somewhat sorted them out as best I can to speed up the part search process.
This is one of the last sets I ever received as a gift before I went to high school and was "too old" to be given Legos ever again (sniffle). I had been given numerous other sets including technics, multiple space & town as well as many pirate sets but this was definitely the largest I ever had. Other than my Dark Dragon's Den or Lagoon Lock Up, I had plenty of boats and wagons and minifigs but not many bases for them to play on. This changed all that and I finally had a place for all my characters to war on. Lots of unique pieces like the rope bridge, base plates, animals like the croc, monkey & parrot, and the awesome islanders themselves including the king Kahuka himself & his mask. It also goes surprisingly well with the other islander sets like the Forbidden Cove and King Kahuka's Throne and can make for a mock Easter Island type setup.
Finding the pieces for this set wasn't bad as most are fairly large and spotting the black & read columns or black corner panels isn't hard. The painted grey corner panels (yay no decals!) and various greenery are easy to spot too. The various horns and headdresses can be a real pain to find after many years and may tend to turn up missing (one of the few things I've had a lot turn up missing). Surprisingly the decals on the boats managed to stay attached so I can't complain there. Overall pretty easy build and no problem to find the necessary parts in a big pile.
Pros
- Large area for minifigs battles even if the small rooms don't allow much internally
- Very colorful and the usage of all of the palm fronds really makes it a nice set to look at
- With the exception of the boats, there aren't any decals as most parts are painted instead
- Tons of cool minifigs and animals for your collection
Cons
- The "rooms" of the base are pretty tiny and are pretty much for show only
- The high amount of bone & headdress as decorations pretty much guarantees that some will turn up missing over time
Most of the part sizes are medium or bigger and are pretty standard so there shouldn't be much if any at all getting lost or misplaced over time. Tons of external space & many cool minifigs make this a perfect battleground for your pirates, islanders and possibly even Imperials. Due to their small nature and less than sturdy attachment, many of the decorative pieces may become dislodged or even lost over time, but for the most part this is a minor issue.
7 out of 7 people thought this review was helpful.
A Tropical Surprise
What a beautiful set this is, really the top model of the Islanders theme. It really deserves 5 bricks for all aspects, without exaration in my opinion. If you collect the Pirates series this is a must have !!
Building is a nice but not the easiest job, you have to look very good where to place the small parts. But a good feeling when you are almost finished and a great result when you place the bridge to connect both plates. Like in all my reviews again happy with all small bricks, it is real building.
The parts are all wonderfull : the 2 great baseplates, the 2 boats both with sails, the statue with turnable head and jail, the bridge, 7 great minifigures, the animals and so on. Absolutely nothing is missing !! A bonus brick for the colourfull design of this theme as shown on both the sail and the Islanders shields. Also worth mentioning are the walls with the plants and leaves on it.
Playability is great ! You have all playing elements you need : 2 opposite parties, lots of space, hiding places, 2 boats, a jail. My son of 5 enjoys playing with this set and I love to look at it and sneaky play with it too.
Value for money is for me really worth the 5 bricks because I paid a lot less then the average value Bricklink offers. It is estimated on an average price of €54,00 which I would pay for it if I had to buy it to complete the serie. If you like the theme and can buy it for less my advise would be : grab it and enjoy !!
2 out of 2 people thought this review was helpful.
Overall one of the best sets I've ever seen
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite sets of all time. It is the largest of any of the Islanders sets and still has excellent design and detail. Has many minifigs including Chief Kahuna, Islander soldiers and girl, and two pirates. The thing that I think I like most about this set is all of the details. These include a small waterfall, a cave hidden by palm leaves, a secret door in the back of the statue revealing a small jail, animal skin drum, many parts, lots of animals, a small island, and many more. I cannot see any flaws in it and is a great set.
5 out of 6 people thought this review was helpful.